Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Postal voters urged to make their vote count

As 7500 postal voting packs start dropping through letter boxes across Argyll and Bute postal voters are being reminded to read the instructions carefully when casting their vote otherwise their vote might not be counted.

When voting by post, voters need to fill in a form accompanying their ballot paper, giving their signature and date of birth. As a security measure, these are matched against the signature and date of birth the voter provided when they applied to vote by post.

Sally Loudon, Returning Officer for Argyll and Bute says, “Postal voting is growing in popularity as a convenient way to have your say. But at every election, some postal votes are invalid, because the voter either forgot to sign the postal voting statement or wrote down the date they filled it in, rather than their date of birth.

“We’ve provided a guide to completing your postal ballot in your pack, so please do take the time to read it and provide the right information so that we can count your vote. We need to receive your postal votes before polls close at 10pm on 5 May.”

The Electoral Commission, the independent elections and referendum watchdog, has sent every household in Scotland an information booklet on the election and the referendum.

If you haven’t got your pack by 26 April you should contact the election office on 01546 603264 or download it at www.aboutmyvote.co.uk